Photos by Tony O'Brien

HSCB - HOE STREET CENTRAL BANK

HOE STREET CENTRAL BANK (HSCB)

HSCB is open in the former Co-Op Bank on Hoe Street in the London suburb of Walthamstow. Between 12th-25th March and 5th-23rd June 2018 it hosted intensive weeks of money printing and events and continues to be open as our production base and for bank note sales.

The bank is a key part of the feature documentary film ‘Bank Job’ bringing together a local community to examine how money and debt are made in our current economic system and look for alternatives that may work more in the public’s favour.

Hoe Street Central Bank is the centre of an act of citizen money creation. Local people of all ages and backgrounds have been working to print £50,000 worth of Bank Job currency in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50, 100 and 1000 on a public print production line.

In place of the Queen, leaders of the local foodbank, homeless kitchen, youth project and primary school grace HSCB banknotes. As they are exchanged for pound sterling they raise money for each banknote cause and the HSCB debt abolition fund – enabling the purchase and literal explosion of 1 million pounds worth of local predatory debt.

Engaging people in a collective act of printing money and abolishing local debt in a former high street bank is a provocative start to a timely conversation about economic justice and education. A concentrated programme of ‘Money Talks’ ranging from crypto currencies and good credit to debt and democracy has brought together big name pundits with local action groups at HSCB and plans for their continuation are afoot and more events and DIY banking are afoot so keep in touch.

The March opening of HSCB was supported by Waltham Forest Council, Indycube, Lipman-Miliband Foundation, Raymond Williams Foundation, UCL Urban Lab. Indycube continue to support our presence in the bank and we are working on making money for the infrastructure and work that goes into making money printing and debt write off happen.

OPENING TIMES

The space is an indycube co-working space and is open for co-working and bank note pick up and visits 7 days a week 10-5pm + event times as listed.